Hello friends!
I spent the last few weeks reflecting on the year and recognizing our achievements. Despite the uncertainty of economic conditions, I’m happy Deep Work has been actively evolving since 2018 with an increasing number of kick-ass experts and community members.
I’m more grateful than ever to share this journey with you. Thank you for being part of it, reading the newsletter, discussing ideas, and sharing your excitement.
Today I want to summarise my reflections and share how I plan to move forward.
Recent internal updates
Sarah is working on the alignment project with Scroll, we’ll share some results sometime soon.
We have an internal business-related meeting scheduled for the 7th of Jan to discuss what Deep Work should be and potentially define goals for the year.
Total Treasury Balance: $10,324.00(0.13 BTC)
2024 brought a lot of insights
At the end of 2023, I realized we lacked a business development process. We unwillingly shifted to branding projects (not our core expertise) and struggled to find new clients for the work we enjoy.
This year, I focused mostly on researching web3 startups, investors, and coliving spaces to validate a market opportunity for our unique set of skills, considering our mission and values.
While we haven’t established recurring revenue, we learned a lot, built out the necessary processes, and are still fully independent.
Financial Strategy and Management:
I gained a deeper understanding of managing resources within a decentralized organization, emphasizing cost-averaging treasury management and optimizing for long-term financial health.
Business Development and Client Relationships:
We had paid clients for new services that fully aligned with our mission, were enjoyable to work on, and validated the value of our organizational framework. That said, they still require refinement to be a sellable product.
I learned about business development strategies, including creating an offering from scratch, refining its value proposition, pricing, and marketing at a small scale.
We started breaking down projects into milestones, improving client onboarding, and offering workshops as an entry point for deeper collaborations.
Ensuring client alignment early in the process prevents misunderstandings and improves deliverables.
Organizational Design and Team Dynamics:
We kept refining our organizational structures and processes, including defining roles and improving communication, alignment, and accountability.
We maintained clear boundaries to protect the brand while staying decentralized.
We have a relatively consistent readership of 45-50% of 214 newsletter subscribers. The newsletter intends to keep our community informed.
Focus on Web3 Ecosystem Opportunities:
Our engagement with the Web3 space gave insights into the organization’s unique challenges, such as user adoption, funding cycles, and market unpredictability.
I identified opportunities for supporting teams with tools like organizational mapping, user research, and guided workshops tailored to Web3-native challenges.
Educational and Gamified Onboarding:
We recognized the importance of onboarding processes to integrate new contributors effectively, and we experimented with gamified experiences and interactive quests to deepen engagement. However, due to my focus on business development, we did not continue with this effort.
Resilience and Adaptation:
We have navigated financial challenges, such as dealing with delayed payments and unexpected project cancellations, adapting processes, and managing risks proactively.
Building Meaningful Connections IRL:
Real-world events and workshops have proven to deepen our relationships, increase collaboration, and help befriend like-minded individuals in the ecosystem.
If designed well, coliving and coworking enhance the shared human experience while driving professional and personal growth.
An emerging decentralized network of (co-)living spaces is needed to adapt to climate change, rejuvenate cities, and create a more resilient internet-native culture.
Productization of Services:
I learned to structure and articulate services as “productized offerings” with defined workflows and outcomes. This approach improves scalability, aligns client expectations, and enhances trust.
Focus on Alignment and Values:
Recurring reflection and increased focus on alignment with clients’ values and missions guided me toward more meaningful opportunities and delightful collaborations.
Insights on Work and Automation:
The AI space is evolving, highlighting the need for creative, social, and embodied work.
What’s next?
Exact time frames for the future are impossible to predict, but the following will most likely be the goals for us:
Operations
On January 7th, we will have a strategic meeting with a few core members to discuss our progress, values, and how we can make the most of our current skillset.
Monthly public community learning/sharing sessions, published on our Luma and Twitter.
Deep Experiences
I’ll focus more on the design of salons and mini-retreats without compromising on health and well-being.
Consultancy
I will work on more bespoke alignment workshops to build better internal processes in teams. These learnings will inform how we can design more complex, higher-margin solutions.
Awareness
We will iterate on hackathons with a strong focus on design and user research.
Creating educational content and positioning it in places with a high number of founders, investors, and community builders. I outlined this strategy in a loom video here.
Design Studio
I’ll work with Anya on a semi-autonomous sub-branded team, specifically focused on visual, brand, and product design for early stage startups.
Upcoming IRL Events and workshops
Feb 20. — Feb 26. Hack Golden Gai - Shibuya/Tokyo
TBD - DWebCamp - Brazil
What I learned recently…
Role of financial compensation in industrial motivation
Opsahl, R. L., & Dunnette, M. D. (1966). Psychological Bulletin, 66(2), 94–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0023614
A study of several research initiatives from the 60s about the role of motivation in the context of compensation for work. Particularly in web3, where “incentives“ are used at a scale, it’s important to realize that individuals care about fairness in compensation. Fairness is not only related to monetary gains but also to the design of the working environment, the type of work, the coworkers, etc.This assesses personal motivations inside the organization as important as user research to uncover users’ needs.
Payment increases motivate individuals, but only if the work is not boring or destructive, and payments are work-contingent, i.e. when the exact task and reason for the increase is clear.
The Psychological Consequences of Money
Kathleen D. Vohs et al. Science 314, 1154 (2006); DOI: 10.1126/science.1132491
This short paper explores the intersection of money and social behavior. The researchers ran a few experiments to see how the context of money influences solitude, self-sufficiency, and relationships with others.
In short, each group primed with money has asked less for help, spent more time on impossible tasks despite the offer for help by someone who solved the problem, collaborated/helped others less, and increased physical distance to others.
I found this interesting in the context of the current economic conditions, where many of us are working on solutions to problems but probably don't get the attention of those who might be able to fund them.
Late Capitalism: Designing a Future where Money doesn’t Rule
Here is also a slightly related article about late/post-capitalism and why the way we use money does not represent the complex nature of our cooperative relationships. The author suggests focusing on making the most of our skills and thinking about fundamental values first, to make better collective decisions.
More detailed business report
Opening balance January 2023:
$30,377.94
Closing balance December 2024:
$10,324.00
Earlier this year we still had a few branding projects, one of which negatively impacted our treasury and a consecutive one that brought us back alive.
In May, we paused the development of Deep Teams to preserve funds and invest in our presence at IRL events. Participating in IRL events has mostly contributed to our research of the web3 space and a few low-margin client projects, validating our new value proposition.
Cost-averaging our treasury assets also helped us stay in the positive range.
December
Treasury & Finance
Treasury Balance: $10,324.00(0.13 BTC)
Revenue: $0
Profits: $0
Internal payments: $0
Operational costs: $630
BD & Sales
I had a few enjoyable conversations this month with friends that led to collaboration.
Show rates: 4
Schedule rates: 3
Close rates: 2 (+1 proposal in progress)
Thanks again for this incredible year, I wish you all the best in health and your passions.
I’m excited for what the future brings us!
Andrej